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Ah, the internet. As I often say to my history students, back in the ancient times people actually had to go to a library to look up facts. Take production data, for example. Let’s say you wanted to know how many of a particular model were made. Well, you could phone the manufacturer, which probably wouldn’t get you anywhere. You might head to a knowledgeable dealer, but they’d probably lose interest as soon as it became clear you weren’t there to actually buy anything. You could write the manufacturer and hope for a correspondence back – probably in a few months. Or, if you were quite rich, you could hop on a plane and head to the company’s headquarters, hoping to be allowed in to the archives. But now, on a seemingly daily basis, more information is added to the nebula which is the internet. Some of it is true, some of it is false, and some is misinterpreted. As I say to my students, know your source. If you’re relying on the NBC Nightly News for your facts, for example, you might find that Brian Williams hand-built this E9 himself. Too soon?
They say imitation is the most sincere form of flattery, and when it comes to Alpina cars there certainly have been a lot of enthusiasts who are eager to copy the legends. Part of that is the great look that Alpina achieved, but also worth considering that Alpina models – especially early ones – command a premium that rivals some of the most exclusive models put out by the factory. Today, then, in honor of Coupe Week I have two E9 models. The first is a real-deal and rare 3.0CSL, but even then a special CSL; this one is an early carburetor model which was modified in period by Alpina to B2S spec. I then have an end-of-run U.S. spec 3.0CS that tries to imitate that look. These two cars obviously aren’t in contention with each other – but is the imitation good enough to warrant looking at?
I recently got to play one of my favorite games, in which I finally catch the drivers of cars I often see parked and get to chat them up a little bit. In this case, it’s a silver 3.0CS that is very straight but has clearly been a daily driver since it was born. The owner cautiously espoused his love to the random stranger who had so briskly made a u-turn on his bike, but it was fun to get a little peek into the life of one of these absolutely classic BMWs. Today’s example is significantly nicer than the silver DD, thanks to low mileage, a beautifully restored interior, and the fact that it’s BROWN. I’ve been so pleased to see the rising appreciating for well-done brown sports cars, and this is the perfect example of how far brown can be from beige. All those nice things about it push this E9 into *gasp* modern BMW-price territory. I’d take this in a heartbeat.
Okay, I know we just featured a 3.0CS on Tuesday, but since we’re on a bit of a coupe theme this week, I thought this…
The E9 3.0CS is a favorite BMW of ours here at GCFSB. Prices have begun to creep up a bit for good examples, but if…